Police sued over Yamba riot arrests

New South Wales Police are being sued by 16 people who were cleared of charges linked to the so-called Yamba riot on the state's north coast.

A police car was torched and officers pelted with bricks when they tried to break up a party in an industrial area on Valentines Day 2010.

Lawyer Tony Love is acting for some of those who were arrested, and says police handled the investigation poorly.

"They trespassed onto the private premises," he said.

"They engaged in conduct we say was unlawful, including wrongfully arresting people, assaulting people, obviously trespass and in the compilation of the prosecution case we say that the prosecution was malicious in that the evidence didn't stack up."

Lawyer Mark Spagnolo says his clients are seeking redress for breaches of their civil rights.

"Based on the findings in the Local Court hearing, and also the evidence that was presented by the police, it's our view they have a very strong case," he said.

"You had young children that were arrested, detained, put on bail conditions, curfews, not allowed to associate with their friends at high school and not allowed to go out after night."